It’s been fun except when it wasn’t.
A bunch of my posts that were about more than just yoyoing or politics were just flagged and removed.
I’ll still be yoyoing, as ever, but just staying away from the social media aspect. It’s shown me some important things about the community that are typically glossed over, but came to a head for me today.
Take care everyone
Agree that the way the posts were deleted without explanation was kind of weird and not something I’ve seen here before. Not sure what to make of it, but it doesn’t feel great to me either.
For those not paying attention:
A-RT Inhaler thread became a discussion regarding the ethics of supporting a company that has ties to nefarious characters. Yada yada yada… this a forum for a toy store and therefore the content is moderated as if children may see it. That’s about all I can say about it without bringing back up any of the details.
Thanks mods! (To be clear, this was not sarcasm. Seriously, thank you for what you do!)
All these comments will be deleted and this thread will be locked. Start the count down
The only comment not deleted was me talking about buying one. I think that’s all that needs to be said
I did not post in the topic in question, but I did read it. In the past, when topics have been locked or posts were deleted, it was always pretty clear to me why this was done. I was unsure this time why this was done, so I went to look up the community guidelines, which I haven’t reviewed in years. I have to admit it actually took some digging for me to find them. Here they are in case you are wondering too.
https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/guidelines
I love this forum and I greatly respect the mods here. They sometimes have to walk a tricky line between allowing free discourse, and keeping the content appropriate for all members to enjoy. Personally, I’m glad to have learned of the issues that were addressed in the previous topic. I’m not sure I’ll see those guys in the same light anymore. With that said, I really hope y’all don’t leave the forum.
Please don’t let the actions of A-rt take you off the forums…………I still remember the Gambit issue a few years back and how sad that was, and I hate to see something similar happen again……………I love Jensen and Charles style of yo-yoing, but the effects that they are having on the rest of the community as a whole isn’t great…….
No one is really leaving. No one.
Every post you made prior to this is: “(This user has been censored by forum moderators)”
What the heck
I had no idea. But when i found out the details i was very disappointed. I have no desire to support A-rt or thier nonsense. Charles is a very skilled player and should get his brand undercontrol. So disappointed i took the 3 A-rt i own (by trade via bst) and traded them back to the owner blindly… I’ll let you guys know what i get.
I don’t want to see @beezy go over this. I don’t think it’s a silly topic and i think the Mods are doing a great job.
Food for thought…
…You are at a baseball game. It’s your favorite team and they’re losing in a sixth inning.
you get up and leave
… you wake up in the middle of the night your neighbor’s house is on fire. You and the other neighbors get any source of water you can start trying to put the fire out. you decide your team effort is not making enough progress so you just quit and say what’s the use your let the house burn down.
… you are a member of the yo-yo community forum. People from all over the civilized planet frequent the forum. Sometimes things get controversial. Most members just watch. Some speak up with their thoughts and ideas. The mods jump in to the threads and decide to make things disappear. A small number of the members get frustrated and decide to throw in the towel.
…. What do all these examples have in common? They simply prove that no matter what you are doing life it boils down to two things. You are a part of the problem, or part of the solution.
If somethings important, you don’t step away from the problem. You become part of the solution. You can’t participate in being part of the solution if you decide the wind is blowing the wrong way and you just don’t have the initiative to lean into it and keep moving forward.
Quitting always seems to be easier than leaning into the problem and trying to get things turned around. To speak up and put it out there. To get other people, talking and thinking and contacting YoYoExpert or each other or just straight up posting and trying to make things better.
Posting up that you’re saying goodbye is not the answer. To me that simply means you never really cared for the yo-yo community anyway. Because if you did, you wouldn’t step away from adversity, controversy or rumors based on often unsupported information.
Speak up and be heard. Quitting eliminates the possibility of progress. Quitting eliminates the possibility of a better forum.
It’s the World Series… Ninth inning, two outs two strikes down by one run. But until that third strike is called it’s still a game.
I love the forum… the game is not over… Step up to the plate… Let’s play ball…
Quitting is not a solution. Quitting is a lack of fortitude, initiative, and just plain heart. If you love something, if you enjoy the community banter, you do what you can to keep it going. You do what you can to try to improve it. You contact YoYoExpert directly and voice your concerns. You don’t say I quit. Quitting is the easy way out. I always lean into the wind. Because when I get to the top of the hill, I can smile and shake my head and turn around and look back down the hill and say that’s where I was and here’s where we’re at and we go from here. And you will never get to the top of the hill by singing a swan song and throwing in the towel. Not on my watch.
Inspiring!
“stop saying facts :(”
link me one article where he was arrested for human trafficking and not an article that speculates he was because he was searched. The guy is a scumbag but im not going to lie on him because i hate him. Please state some facts for me. I didn’t think id be the tate defender ever but i guess ive been watching too much destiny lol
please give me the facts
I can’t be the only one that’s still in the dark here. Am I?
I’m right there with you
I don’t hop on here much these days, so I missed all the deletion and what happened. I will say the community (not the forum) has a history of picking and choosing what they’ll support, what they’ll overlook, etc. The Ti-Vayder was a prime example of that, nefarious character, but offer a cheap titanium and people look away and “forget”.
Not sure what happened with the A-Rt thread, but I’d suggest it not take you away from the community at large @beezy, most of the “community” these days in online in one way or another, there is a lot of good things going on via social media, just bypass the negative side.
Tate- My impression is he’s very 2-dimensional and has little appreciation for nuance. In any event, it seems he dwells on the topic of de masculinization of men in society. After time the “formula” and main topics becomes apparent. Not sure just first impressions. I feel the same way about Howard Stern, there’s a formula to it. Above all the goal is self-promotion.
I participate in a number of forums that share my personal interests: computers, writing, guitar and yoyo among others. I enjoy threaded discussion forums. They allow me to follow threads in which I have an interest and avoid others that do not.
There is a lot of wheat and chaff on the internet. Being a moderator with the power to delete inappropriate content is a VERY difficult job. I am pretty sure this incident was outside the bounds of the TOS.
In this forum, I am all about the yoyos… the ones that spin and have a string. 
